2024-01-26 –, Btrust Stage
Preaching to the choir is a regular occurance in the bitcoin ecosystem. On the other hand, mass adoption is the only way for bitcoin to truly fulfill its purpose. The onus is on us as bitcoiners to reach out to the masses - Create awareness, ignite interest & desire, and handhold people to the fundamentals of money, value, and the promise of bitcoin.
Stay humble, stack sats is not enough. The stack needs to get deployed. Used in day-to-day life. People need to want to use bitcoin.
Effective community building is a powerful means to spark this want. What has worked for us as we built Bitcoin4India is to create a laidback environment, have a lose agenda for meetups, while ensuring that we organized many meetups. Behind the scenes, using all the tools available to us, and preferred by people, to connect with one another.
In essence, how to create and sustain momentum while building a community, with an aim to welcome no-coiners into our fold is what I aim to talk about.
Key Themes
1) Introduction - How we started Bitcoin4India and other African Bitcoin communities.
2) Our learnings and insights - (a) Everyone gets drawn to the shitcoin casino first. (b) The journey from shitcoin to bitcoin-only is interesting to say the least. Some get it in an instant, many take much longer. (c) Use the platforms that people like to use. In our case it has been Whatsapp and Meetup.com. (d) Be gentle on no-coiners. Meet them where they are. (e) People wanting to self-organize meetups and events is a win.
3) Similarities between India and Africa - Both are vibrant cultures comprising of several sub-cultures, customs and traditions. People have strong ties with their family and community. Its easy for an Indian to understand the term pan-Africanism. Its easy for us to understand the concept of Ubuntu.
4) Differences between Indian and African climate - (a) Africa could be the best example of slowly then suddenly - (b) The need of bitcoin is not felt in India yet, but its a burning need in Africa due to inflation, currency devaluation and censorship. (c) Africa needs bitcoin solutions made by Africans.
Conclusion: (a) Its about making people feel welcome into the community. (b) The west's narratives around bitcoin won't necessarily work in/for Africa. Africa needs to have its own bitcoin narrative. (c) Momentum is key to building a community. (d) Give people various platforms - online and off, if sustained and nurtured well, the community starts growing organically.
Journalist. Building @BitcoinCowries, @MySatsFarm @BitcoinStreetStore & @BitcoinBrite
Bitcoin For Fairness & Bitcoin Victoria Falls
Bitcoin Victoria Falls was inspired by The Hope House's Bitcoin Beach project in El Zonte, El Salvador. The Free Haven Community Initiative in Livingstone, Zambia is very similar in its philanthropic nature and community initiatives. These community and educational ties inspired a Bitcoin Circular Economy in Zambia with a focus on education and merchant adoption. This project will be led by two teachers who are a part of Bitcoin for Fairness Zambia, Mabvuto and Humphrey from Lusaka, Zambia. They will travel to Livingstone for 2 days each week to teach the My First Bitcoin curriculum, onboard merchants, and host Bitcoin meetups. We are ready for launch!
Emmanuel is one of the founding members of Bitcoin for Fairness in Lusaka, Zambia. He is co-organizing regular meetups in the capital city Lusaka and doing educational work with university students.